This thread seems to be a better place than the "racist flame threads" for me to make the following statement : I believe that we are all, or at least the great majority of us, racists. I use the term racist in the sense that are aware of and often believe stereotypes of other races. Black people are better dancers, the Irish are drinkers, Hispanics have quick tempers, Scots and Jews are tightfisted, Asians and Germans have no sense of humor, etc. We may not believe these stereotypes, but they are a commonly experienced part of our cultures, and we carry them with us when we encounter people of other races. These stereotypes influence our judgements of different races and cultures, and that is why they are called prejudices. It is extremely difficult to not let these stereotypes sway us, either toward seeking confirmation of them, or overcompensating in the other direction by ignoring any similarities in an individual with these stereotypes. This leads to situations such as one I experienced when picking up a business associate I had never met at the airport. The secretary at his office said "he's tall and heavyset, he'll be wearing a gray suit, carrying a black briefcase." After finally finding him among the 40 or so other individuals who met that description in the baggage area, I realized he was also a Black man. Did she think identifying him as one would constitute racist behavior?

If racist equates hate, then I think most folks are not racists. But if racist means viewing individuals through a lens colored by prejudices, I think that I am a racist indeed, and the struggle to overcome this has been a lifelong one for me.